Journal box



H. J. HORN JOURNAL BOX Feb. 27, 1940.

ATTORNEY.

R m N E V m 6 m m 5 I w 4 0 :4i M rw vfw m rlrr. In F in; H I wi h U 4 2.

Patented Feb. 27, 1940 JOURNAL BOX Harry J. HorrnLansing, Mich., assignor to Motor Wheel '(lorporation, Lansing,'Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application August 10, 1936, Serial No. 95,084 7 Claims- (Cl. 308 -47) This invention relates to journal boxes, "and more particularly to a novel construction and arrangement of the parts of a lid assembly for a journal box.

The lid assembly includes a cover for thejournal-box opening'having an articulated connection with a hoodipivotally mounted upon the journal box, a spring and lever arrangementfor maintaining the cover in either its open or closedposition, and a hood' cap which is pivotally connected to the journal box. 1 Among the novel features of the vention are thetparticularjsprin'g and lever arrangement; the-constructionof the hood and the manner in which it ismounted upon the journal box, andv the arrangement of the parts whereby the lid structure-may be readily mounted and demountedasfa'unit.

Other novel features of the present invention include the: provision of a -keeper bar utilized in maintaining the parts of the lid. construction in assembledrelation during "mounting and de- -mounting, and the provision of a pintle so arrangedwith respect to the parts of the. lid construction as to'be locked in position when the cover is mounted upon the journal box.

The principal objects of'the invention reside in the provision of the novel features referred to above. Other objects more or less incidental and ancillary thereto will appear from the following description'and the accompanying drawing wherein." I

Figurej'l is an elevational view of a journal box lidconstructed in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention and showing the same applied to a journal box;

Figure 21s a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 and looking in the direction indicated? Figure 3 1s a fragmentary vertical sectional View similar to that of Figure 2 but showing the hood cap in open position and the keeper bar operatively associated with the parts;

' v Figure 4 is aview similar to that of Figure 3 but showing the. lid structure in raised or open position; v I

Figure 5 isa-top plan viewjof the keeper bar; c 'glire 6 is" a side elevational view of the keeper bar; r

' Figure? is a fragmentary sectional view showing a modifiedform of the pintle; and r Figure 8 is a'view similarto thatof Figure 7 but showing still another modifiedform of the pintle.

Referring now to the drawing, a journal box l0 diagrammatically illustrated in dotted lines, is provided upon its roof or top wall with a hinge lug I having a cam surface l2 thereon and provided with an opening forming a bearing surface present in-" with the cam |2.

|3 for a pintle I4 upon which the lid structure is hinged.

- permit limited relative movement between the cover-and the hood so that the cover will evenly engage the edges of the opening I"! preventing the entrance of dirt andwater. The hood 2| is formed with sides .20 embracing the hinge lug. l i which have openings 25 to receive the pintle M. The mechanism for maintaining the lid in either open or closed position comprises a'lever 23 pivoted 'atits lower end to the sides 20 of the hood 2| in any suitable manner as at 24 and formed at its upperend with a drawn portion 26 overwhich is positioned a compression spring 27 extending'betweenthe lever and the hood 2| where it is positioned around another drawn portion 28 formed thereon; s 'From the construction thus far described, it will be apparent-that the compression spring 21 will urge the lever 23 into constant engagement 7 Whenthe lidis in closed position it will be retained in that positionbythe action of the springforcing the lever 23 against the flat face 29 of the cam, and when the lid is raised the lever will-ride over the high point of the cam and maintain the lid in open positionas 7 shown in Figure 4. The .efiectiveness of spring 21 is increased by arranging it so that the lever contacts cam l2 in a region between spring 21 1 I and pivot 24.

, icing. To this end a hood cap 3| is pivotally secured, as indicated at 32, to the upper portions of theside-walls20 of the hood 2|. It is provided. with a flanged portion 33 extending downwardly over thefront face of the hood 2| and releasably secured thereto by a screw 34 having be conveniently threaded into the drawnportion 28 of the hood.

The hood cap 3| is. provided with means {for locking the pintle M in place when. the hood cap isin its closed position. This consists in a pair v ofdownwardly extending ears located at the opposite sides of the hood. .The ears are located on the outside of the hood 2| and adjacent the 'a lock washer. 35 between the head thereof and the face 33 of the hood cap. The screw 36 may opposite ends of the pintle 14 when the cover is in its closed position as indicated in Figure 2. The ears 3!] may be moved away from theends of the pintle l4 so as to permit the removal of the pintle by rotating the hood cap 3| to the positions shown in Figures 3 and 4.

Of course the spring 21 positioned between the hood 2| and the lever 23 exerts a constant pressure against the hood 2| and through the connection of the hood and the pintle l4 provides a frictional engagement between the pintle, the lug and the sides of the hood 2|. Provision is made for releasing this frictional engagement in order to facilitate the removal of the pintle l4 after the hood cap has been rotated tothe positions shown in Figures 3 and 4. This is accomplished by the use of a keeper bar 36. The bar has end portions 31 adapted to engagethe remote faces of the hood 2! and the lever 23 adjacent the spring 21' when the cover is in its open position, as shown in Figure 4. When in that position the spring 21 is compressed sufi'iciently to permit the installation of the keeper bar36 as shown in Figure 4.

When the cover is moved to its closed position with the keeper bar installed as just described the keeper bar constrains the assembly consisting of the hood M, the lever 23 and the spring 21 to such extent that the lever does not contact including the cover [6, the hood 2|, the lever 23 and the spring 27, may be removed from the journal box as a unit.

In the modified embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 7 the pintle 38 may be reduced in diameter at the ends thereof as at 39 forming shoulders 4!. As shown in Figure 8 the pintle 45 may be similarly reduced in diameter a slight distance from the ends thereof as at 42 forming a pair of spaced shoulders 43 and 44 at each end.

When the parts in these modified embodiments arein assembled position'the action of the spring 2'? will tend to move the hood 2| outwardly, causing the edges of hood "2| about the openings 25 to'engage the reduced portions 39 of the pintle 38 or the reduced portion 42 of pintle 45. The shoulders 4!, 43 and 44 thus serve to lock the respective pintlesin position to prevent longitudinal movement thereof. When thelever, hood and spring are constrained by the keeper bar. 36, the shoulders may be disengaged from the hood sides 29 and the pintle readily removed.

In Figures '7 and 8 the hood cap 3l is shown as being provided with the ears 30 as in the preferred embodiment of Figures 1 to 4, but it will be apparent that the ears are not essential when the pintle is provided with the reduced portions 39 or 42.

It will be understood that various modifications in construction and design may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a lid structure for a journal box having I a hinge lug, a cover, a hood secured to the cover,

. a pintle pivotally securing the hood to said hinge 2. In a lid structure for a journal box having a hinge lug, a cover, a hood secured to the cover and having an open top, a pintle pivotally secur-. ing the hood to the hinge lug, a hood cap pivotally secured tothe hood, said hood cap including 5 side portions arranged to engage the ends of said pintle when the hood cap is in closed position and to disengage said ends when the hood cap is in open position.

3. In a lid structure for a journal box having'lo a hinge lug, a cover, a hood secured to the cover and having an open top, a pintle pivotally securing said hood to said hinge lug, and a hood. cap pivotallysecured to the hood, the hood cap 'inr cluding projections adjacent the pivotal axis-l5 thereof embracing'the ends of said pintle when the hood cap is in closed position and adapted to free said ends for ready removal when the hood cap is in open position. 7

4. The combination with a lid structure for a journal box including ajhoodpivotally con-' nected to the journal box and having an open top,,a hood cap for closing said open top, a lever pivotally connected to the hood, and a spring positioned between the lever and the hood urging 25' the lever against the journal box,'of means for Y holding the hood lever and spring under stress tofacilitate the removal of the lid. structure as a unit from the journal'box. Q 1

5. The combination with a lid structure for a 30" journal box including a hood pivotally connected to the journal box and having an open top, a hood cap for closing said open top, a" lever pivotally connected to the hood," and a spring posi-, I tioned between the lever and the hood urging the 3 lever, against the journal box, of a keeper'bar adapted to hold the hood and the lever in assembled relation to each other with the-spring under. stress therebetween to permit the removal of the 6. In a lid .structurefor a journal box having a hinge lug, a cover, 'a hood secured 'to's'aid :cover and provided with ajside wall having an .open-. ing therein forming a bearing surface, and spring means between said hood and said journal box, a pintle pivotally securing said hood to said hinge lug and extending through said openej ing, said pintle having a reduced portion ,at one endthereof forming a pair of shoulders one at each side of said reduced portion, adapted toenr. 5' gage one side or the other of said hood sidewall adjacent said opening, said reduced portion be ing maintained in engagement with said bearing surfaceby the action of said spring.

'1. A journal box including, in combinationfa hinge lug having a cam surface, a lidstructure pivotally connected to-said hinge lug and adapted to be moved to open and closed positions, said lid structure including a hood having an open top, a hood cap. for closing said open. top mov+ 50 ably connected thereto, a lever pivotally con; nected to said hood and a spring interposed b'e'-' tween the lever and the lid to. urge theflever against said cam. surface, the extent of compres:

sion of said spring being differentfor the 013811.65-

and closed positions, and means for engaging the lid structure and the lever when the spring 51m its most compressed position to hold the spring in that position whereby the lid structure, lever and spring may beremoved from the journal box 70. as a unit.

HARRY J. HORN.- I 

